Minnesota Goes to War: The Home Front during World War II

Kenney chronicles a time when ordinary sacrifice and extraordinary courage happened as a part of daily life. Brainerd, 1941: The first people began arriving at the depot at about eleven-thirty p.m. The mercury in the thermometer read twenty below zero, and it was still dropping. . . . A few minutes before midnight, the men the crowd had come to see marched into view—eighty-two of them, all dressed in khakis, responding on cue to barked commands. . . . The conductor called "all aboard." The band struck up "The Star-Spangled Banner." The men fell in and marched into the passenger cars. As the crowd surged forward, the men inside the train raced to the windows. . . . Hands reached out and grabbed each other. Final kisses were stolen. The train pulled away, slowly gathering momentum, and disappeared into the night. For many in Company A, 194th Tank Battalion, the part-time National Guardsmen who had trained at Camp Ripley, that was their last look at Brainerd. Their fate and the lives of the people they left behind comprise only one of the stories in this compelling chronicle of Minnesota's war efforts during World War II. Minnesota Goes to War records the state's role in the most significant event of the twentieth century. By telling the poignant stories of those who stayed behind—in support of the men and women overseas—this book is a tribute to the sacrifices made by ordinary people in extraordinary times. With much original research including photographs, letters, and interviews with veterans and their families, author Dave Kenney chronicles the uniquely Minnesotan response to war, from the starvation study at the University of Minnesota to the human centrifuge project at Mayo; from the Minneapolis and St. Paul rival scrap drives to the use of German POW farmhands in northwestern Minnesota; from those who eagerly supported the war to those who protested our nation's involvement. These stories honor Minnesotans who faced the war with equal amounts of determination and dread, courage and fear in places as far away as the Pacific and Europe and as close as our own hometowns.

History

Kenney, Dave

Americas

Minnesota Historical Society Press

Through hundreds of photographs and entertaining commentary, veteran author Dave Kenney offers a virtual tour through 150 years of events and movements that shaped the culture and landscape of the Twin Cities. The first complete history of Minneapolis and St. Paul published in two decades, Twin Cities Album: A Visual History spans their ramshackle beginnings as cross-river rivals to their thriving metropolitan partnership today. Early photographs show ghosts of nineteenth-century city life—shopkeepers loading oxcarts on downtown streets, St. Paulites riding the first streetcars. Fascinating images of automobiles and airplanes reflect the technological boom of the first decades of the 1900s. Photos of former GIs with their young families reveal a changed Minnesota after World War II. Images of the early local television programs give way to those of dramatic protests at the University of Minnesota during the 1960s. Photographs of a new Guthrie Theater and the christening of the first skyway in Minneapolis reveal the evolving face of the cities in the 1980s and 1990s. Labor strikes and block parties, Kent Hrbek and Garrison Keillor, Native American sit-ins, lost architectural gems, new immigrants, the demolition of Rondo, riverfront flour mills, shows at First Avenue: these soaring images together comprise a collective portrait of the neighborhoods we call home.

Twin Cities Album: A Visual History

Arts & Photography

Photography & Video

Twin Cities Picture Show: A Century of Moviegoing

From the stories of our classic theaters to tales of industry and intrigue featuring the savvy and tough entrepreneurs of movie entertainment, this first-ever history of cinema in the Twin Cities reveals the influence of Hollywood on the lives and imaginations of Minnesotans—and that of Minnesotans on the film industry today. Filled with photos of the dazzling marquees and great theaters of yesterday and today, historian Dave Kenney's highly readable account offers rich histories of some of the grandest theaters ever constructed. Featured are movie palaces like the Minnesota in downtown Minneapolis, with its well-synchronized phalanx of ushers and cavernous yet elegant interior, and the Cooper in St. Louis Park, with its films projected larger-than-life in 70 mm Cinerama. Yet behind many of these cinemas' electrifying facades are the impresarios and business leaders who took the risks and made the fortunes, like nationally known theater mogul and Hollywood producer Ted Mann, who transformed Minnesota moviegoing in the fifties and sixties, and porn king Ferris Alexander, whose unconventional business activities resulted in the preservation of many now treasured historical monuments. Then there are the people of the Twin Cities, who have seen and tested some of the biggest movies of all time.

Humor & Entertainment

Movies

Kenney chronicles a time when ordinary sacrifice and extraordinary courage happened as a part of daily life.Brainerd, 1941:The first people began arriving at the depot at about eleven-thirty p.m. The mercury in the thermometer read twenty below zero, and it was still dropping. . . . A few minutes before midnight, the men the crowd had come to see marched into view—eighty-two of them, all dressed in khakis, responding on cue to barked commands. . . . The conductor called "all aboard." The band struck up "The Star-Spangled Banner." The men fell in and marched into the passenger cars. As the crowd surged forward, the men inside the train raced to the windows. . . . Hands reached out and grabbed each other. Final kisses were stolen. The train pulled away, slowly gathering momentum, and disappeared into the night.For many in Company A, 194th Tank Battalion, the part-time National Guardsmen who had trained at Camp Ripley, that was their last look at Brainerd. Their fate and the lives of the people they left behind comprise only one of the stories in this compelling chronicle of Minnesota's war efforts during World War II.Minnesota Goes to War records the state's role in the most significant event of the twentieth century. By telling the poignant stories of those who stayed behind—in support of the men and women overseas—this book is a tribute to the sacrifices made by ordinary people in extraordinary times.With much original research including photographs, letters, and interviews with veterans and their families, author Dave Kenney chronicles the uniquely Minnesotan response to war, from the starvation study at the University of Minnesota to the human centrifuge project at Mayo; from the Minneapolis and St. Paul rival scrap drives to the use of German POW farmhands in northwestern Minnesota; from those who eagerly supported the war to those who protested our nation's involvement.These stories honor Minnesotans who faced the war with equal amounts of determination and dread, courage and fear in places as far away as the Pacific and Europe and as close as our own hometowns.

Revised edition of: Northern lights: the story of Minnesota's past / Rhoda R. Gilman. St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society Press, 1989.

Northern Lights Revised Second Edition: The Stories of Minnesota's Past

Children's Books

Minnesota Historical Society Education

Northern Lights Revised Second Edition Teachers Edition: The Stories of Minnesota's Past

The 1970s were more than big hair, mirror balls, and leisure suits. These were the years that bridged the chasm between the anti-establishment tumult of the 1960s and the morning-in-America conservatism of the 1980s. In Minnesota, this evolution unfolded in ways that defied expectations. No longer was Minnesota merely a vague, snow-covered outpost in the American consciousness. It was a place of note and consequence—a state of presidential candidates, grassroots activism, civic engagement, environmental awareness, and Mary Tyler Moore. Its governor appeared on the cover of Time magazine. Its city skylines shot up with uncharacteristic immodesty. Its farmers enjoyed some of their best years ever. Minnesota forged an identity during the 1970s that would persist, rightly or wrongly, for decades to come. This book tells the stories of people, places, and events that defined the state: colorful individuals, including Allan Spear, Arlene Lehto, Wendell Anderson, and Herb Brooks; significant groups like the Willmar 8, American Indian Movement, Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life, and Save the Met; and news-making events, including the first Earth Day, the Dayton's bombing, school desegregation battles, and highway construction protests. Richly illustrated with evocative photos, cartoons, and ephemera, this book helps bring the 1970s back to life.

Minnesota in the '70s

Saylor, Thomas

Summit Avenue, grande dame of Victorian boulevards, is lined with magnificent turn-of- the-century mansions built by railroad magnates, lumber barons and captains of industry. Great Houses of Summit Avenue and the Hill District is a celebration of these homes on St. Paul's best-known and most beloved avenue. With a foreword by Garrison Keillor and fascinating stories penned by four award-winning writers including Paul Clifford Larson, Bette Hammel, Dave Kenney, and Melinda Nelson, the book opens the doors to more than two dozen legendary homes situated on America's best-preserved avenue from the era. Photographer Karen Melvin takes us along for a tour through stately mansions to view these remarkable architectural gems. Featuring the work of notable architects including Clarence Johnston, Cass Gilbert and Allen Stem, readers experience the interiors first-hand, including the home of F. Scott Fitzgerald. Richly illustrated with hundreds of photos, this book offers an irresistible invitation to step through the doors of these showcase homes to explain what we are all curious to know. Discover how the homeowners have restored the original grandeur and rich heritage of their homes while infusing them with new life and energy.

Great Houses of Summit Avenue and the Hill District

Larson, Paul Clifford

Melvin, Karen

Nelson, Melinda

Hammel, Bette

History & Criticism

Big Picture Press

Parent to Parent is based on the experience of Dave and Barb Kenney, both foster and adoptive parents of traumatized children. Dave is a child psychologist and Barb a social worker. Parent to Parent is about emotional healing and is intended to help parents and teachers understand the effects of psychological injuries on the developing personality. It illustrates the thinking and learning of the developing child and explains how, at certain times, the traumas of childhood have specific sets of possible effects on the emerging ego. These effects impact on the personality in specific ways, which lead to predictable behavior patterns. Therefore, we can act in a strategic way to redirect growth towards well being. In this manner, we can inoculate the abused or abandoned child to significant mental disorders as adults at the same time we deal with the contemporary challenges these children bring to home and school. Parent to Parent helps traumatized children avoid becoming traumatizing adults.

Parent to Parent: Healing Emotional Trauma

Health, Fitness & Dieting

Kenney, Barb

Psychology & Counseling

Independently published

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Kenney, Dave. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Kenney, Dave

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Kenney, Dave. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Minnesota Goes to War: The Home Front during World War II

Twin Cities Album: A Visual History

Twin Cities Picture Show: A Century of Moviegoing

Minnesota Goes to War: The Home Front during World War II

Northern Lights Revised Second Edition: The Stories of Minnesota's Past

Northern Lights Revised Second Edition Teachers Edition: The Stories of Minnesota's Past

Minnesota in the '70s

Great Houses of Summit Avenue and the Hill District

Twin Cities Picture Show: A Century of Moviegoing

Parent to Parent: Healing Emotional Trauma